1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a test stand for an internal combustion engine which includes a drive and/or load system, a force transmission device with a system for a non-destructive and play-free automatic coupling of the internal combustion engine to the drive and/or load system, and a sensor and evaluation system for automatically collecting and evaluating measurement variables.
2. The Prior Art
For quality assurance of internal combustion engines in series production, a functional test (cold test) and a performance test (hot test) are often required in the production environment, wherein important functional tests and a complete performance test are carried out on the completely assembled internal combustion engine. In particular for the hot test, an optimal coupling of the internal combustion engine to the test stand is necessary.
DE 102 25 886 C1 discloses an engine test stand with a coupling device for separably connecting a drive device with an engine to be tested, which preferably axially movable coupling device comprises a multi-part coupling element which can be connected with an engine element in a form fitting and play-free manner. The individual parts of said coupling element are rotatably adjustable with respect to each other for fixing or releasing the engine element, for example a crankshaft flange pin.
Shaft couplings which are manually screwed together can also be configured in a play-free manner without major efforts; however, couplings which can be connected play-free without user intervention are in reality complex, expensive and can be tricky.
Thus, the object of the present invention was a test stand with an improved play-free coupling between the test object and the drive and/or load system of the test stand.
To solve this object, the test stand is characterized according to the invention in that the system for a non-destructive and play-free automatic coupling of the internal combustion engine includes an internally toothed and longitudinally slotted clamping sleeve for receiving an element of the internal combustion engine in a form and force fitting manner, wherein the outer side of the clamping sleeve is conically formed and interacts with a clamping collet which is conically formed on the inside.
According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention the clamping collet is pushed over the clamping sleeve by means of a disk spring.
Preferably, the system is configured for receiving a power takeoff shaft of the internal combustion engine in a form and force fitting manner.
In the following description, the invention is to be described in more detail by means of a preferred exemplary embodiment and with reference to the attached drawings.